


Magnolia

by Femisis



Category: Gundam 00
Genre: Allelujah is my precious cinnamon roll, Dancing, Episode 15 therapy, Fluff, Gundam 00 Week, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oblivious Lockon, Stupid sexy Lockon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 16:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6712996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femisis/pseuds/Femisis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Taklamakan siege left the Meisters exhausted and troubled, a little dance could lead to more than comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magnolia

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for Gundam 00 week following the Gundam Meisters prompt. This takes place in the middle of episode 16 of season 1 following the Taklamakan siege. That episode messed me up and I've needed writing therapy ever since. This seems to be it.
> 
> I do plan on revising this at a later date, but I wanted to be able to post it for 00 week, so... here you go? o3o?
> 
> Here's a link to the song that inspired this work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5XK9HDnL8s

It was by an unspoken agreement that the four Meisters agreed to stay on the island that night. They were exhausted, starving, bloody, and in need of a good rest. None of them were in any mood to return to space in a tiny tin can, not when they could stay on the island at least for the day. It would leave time for the heat to die down before reuniting with Ptolemy.

 

The flight back to the island was relatively silent once the discussion of the new Gundams died away. It hadn’t been a long one as they knew literally nothing of these newcomers except that they had saved their lives. Beyond that, they were in the dark. Veda knew nothing and they wouldn’t be able to conference with the rest of the crew until they returned to Ptolemy, so further speculation was pointless.

 

They loaded the Gundams into their containers as quickly as they could, Dynames standing guard until Exia, Kyrios, and Virtue were secure and it could be loaded. Very little speech was exchanged between the four except for a few short commands. None of them felt like talking, a fact that was made apparent when they went four separate ways once their units were secured.

 

The first thing Allelujah did when he was certain he was alone, truly, completely alone, was to rush to the bathroom and throw up what little was left in his stomach. As he hadn’t eaten in over a day, there was nothing to regurgitate but bile, and it wasn’t long until he was dry heaving into the bowl, gripping the edge hard enough that his knuckles turned white. When finished, he slumped against the side of the toilet, panting in exhaustion and residual fear. Now that they were away from the fighting and in relative safety the terror had caught up with him. He’d faced death before, but never like that, not with his demise a near certainty. Even with Hallelujah’s help they had been so close to failure...

 

A small sigh escaped him as he turned his head to press his cheek to the cool porcelain, his eyes fluttering shut in relief. He wasn’t very religious despite his name, but he knew deep in his heart that someone, whether it was God, Allah, some other deity, or Aeolia himself, had been watching over them. Why, he didn’t know, but he could only be grateful for the chance to keep fighting for a peaceful future. He wasn’t ready to die, not yet.

 

Five minutes, fifteen minutes, an hour ticked by before Allelujah managed to pull himself off the floor and into the shower. Letting the spray hit his face, he groaned in relief as he began to scrub the blood and sweat from his body, savoring it as the best shower of his life. He didn’t stay in too long, though, as sleep was calling him as it undoubtedly called to the others.

 

Most of the day was spent sleeping, punctuated with hurried snacks when their bodies protested from lack of sustenance. Around mid-afternoon they moved outside for a real, if simple, meal. It was uncomfortably quiet with little eye contact, the focus on their food and nothing else. It wasn’t time to talk yet. No one seemed ready to go back in after dinner, instead opting to sleep outside. They didn’t settle until it was fully dark out, the heat of the day giving way to a cooler night.

 

Unable to sleep, Allelujah tossed and turned in his sleeping bag for an hour before finally giving up. Slipping out of his bag, he padded quietly past the others, cool sand cradling his bare feet as he walked. He headed to the small table they’d used earlier in the day to eat a quick meal before going back to sleep. There was little on it aside from some used plates and glasses, a bowl of leftovers, and a radio. It was this that had the Meister’s attention. Flicking it on, Allelujah made sure to turn the volume down before searching through the various stations for something to listen to. The night sounds of the island and the surf weren’t enough to lull him to sleep, so hopefully some music would.

 

“Oh, I love this song!” He murmured happily as he found the right station, expression brightening just a bit. It was an upbeat pop song that had been gaining popularity on Earth in the last few weeks and he’d taken to listening to it whenever he could. Entranced, he didn’t notice at first when his hips began to sway in time to the music. When he realized the rhythm his body had picked up on he stepped back from the table and began to dance in earnest, laughing as if at death itself. Yet again he’d dodged the reaper, whether by luck or a cruel twist of fate he didn’t know. What he did know was that he was still alive, his heart still beating, bringing life to his body so he could dance on a beach to some song no one would remember in a month’s time.

 

“Will you go to sleep?!” Tieria snapped from his sleeping bag, hands over his ears in an attempt to drown out the noise. Allelujah had been fairly quiet and he’d been willing to give the other Meister a bit of leeway, but the laughing was unacceptable.

 

Freezing in place, Allelujah drooped like a puppy that had been kicked by it’s master. “I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep…”

 

“That’s fine, just be quiet about it,” Tieria growled as he stood and stalked over to the table to turn the radio off. He was almost there when Allelujah grabbed him by the wrist. “What?”

 

“No, don’t turn it off, please. I’ll just listen to it, I promise…” Allelujah all but begged, clutching desperately at Tieria. He hated how weak he sounded, but right now it was what he needed to unwind. Hopefully his teammate could understand that.

 

Tieria looked at Allelujah hard, gaze all the more piercing without his glasses. “Fine. Just keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep,” he snapped as he yanked his arm free and rubbed at his wrist. It was easy to forget how much stronger physically Allelujah was than the rest of them.

 

“Geh, what’s all the racket?” Both heads turned as Lockon approached, stretching. “’m trying to get some shut eye.”

 

“You can blame Haptism for that,” Tieria responded, the disdain in his voice thick enough to cut with a knife.

 

“I already said I was sorry. I just wanted to dance…” Allelujah trailed off, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

 

To his credit, Lockon didn’t laugh. Rather, he looked mildly curious as he regarded Allelujah. “Ignore Tieria, he’s all piss and vinegar when he’s tired,” the brunet said. Ignoring Tieria’s squawk of protest, Lockon approached Allelujah and placed his left hand on the other’s hip while taking the right hand in his own. “May I have this dance?” He asked with a glitter in his eye.

 

Taken aback by the sudden question, Allelujah only managed to nod dumbly as he closed his hand around Lockon’s and put his free hand on the brunet’s shoulder.

 

“Excellent. Now all we need is music…” Lockon murmured, grinning as the next song began, another forgettable pop song with a quick tempo. “Perfect, just the song I was looking for,” he said before sweeping Allelujah off across the sand in a lively waltz, leaving a stunned Tieria behind.

 

Allelujah’s first few steps were hesitant as he struggled to remember the steps (and keep Lockon from stepping on him), but as he relaxed and muscle memory began to kick in, he found himself easily keeping pace with his partner. He trusted this man with his life in battle, so it wasn’t difficult to trust him with not squishing his feet.

 

Both Meisters kept in step not only with the song but with each other as they eased into the dance, learning to read and feel each other’s body language. Only a slight adjustment was needed as a new song with a slightly slower tempo began. “You’re a wonderful dancer, Allelujah,” Lockon commented as he guided them across the beach. “Where did you learn to dance?”

 

Allelujah’s face turned bright red at the question. He tried to duck his head, but Lockon chose that moment to spin him, forcing him to look back up. “Nowhere, really, I just-“

 

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want,” Lockon told him, adjusting his grip slightly on Allelujah’s hip so he could properly dip the other man. “They made us learn in Phys Ed one year in school, I don’t remember which. It took forever to get anywhere because all us boys were afraid of catching cooties from the girls and vice versa. I was one of the few kids who even made an effort, really.”

 

“It shows,” Allelujah replied with a smile. He’d relaxed into the dance, content to let Lockon guide him as they moved as a single unit. “I… thank you for this. I mean it.”

 

“Don’t mention it. We’ve been laying around all day, a little exercise is good for us.”

 

Allelujah didn’t think dancing constituted as ‘a little’ exercise, but he didn’t say so aloud. He was enjoying himself too much to let this end. Much like Cinderella’s night at the ball, this would come to an end sooner rather than later and he would be forced to face the reality of life as a Gundam Meister. Right now, though, he was safe, they were safe…

 

“Don’t dwell on it,” Lockon said abruptly, breaking him from his train of thought. “If you dwell on it you’ll only hurt yourself in the long run.

 

“I thought I was… we were…”

 

“You don’t have to say it. We were all thinking the same thing,” Lockon replied, giving Allelujah’s hip a reassuring squeeze. “That was way beyond what any of us were expecting.”

 

“Sumeragi-san was,” Allelujah reminded him, deftly sidestepping a piece of driftwood before it could trip him up. “She warned us it was dangerous. If it hasn’t been for those mysterious Gundams we would be dead right now and you know it.” He hated to keep dwelling on it, but that was the truth. They’d walked into a trap and only a miracle had saved them. They’d kept their lives another day and had new allies, or at least he hoped they were. “Tieria shouldn’t have dismissed her like that.”

 

“He was just being a bitch like he is now,” Lockon snorted, glancing over at where the other Meister was glaring daggers at them.

 

“He’s jealous.”

 

“What?”

 

“Tieria is jealous.”

 

“Of who?”

 

Allelujah blinked in surprised. “You really don’t know?”

 

“Know what? Mind if I lift you?”

 

“That he- what?” Allelujah yelped as he was lifted and spun in mid-air, stumbling slightly as he fell back into step. “He likes you.”

 

It was Lockon’s turn to look utterly baffled as he looked between Allelujah and Tieria. “What do you mean he likes me?”

 

“I have no idea how you didn’t know. Setsuna and I have been discussing it for weeks now. He figured Tieria was going to ambush you somewhere and we’d walk in on you two at some point. I suppose this explains why we’ve been saved having that image burned into our retinas.”

 

Snorting, Lockon went quiet as he contemplated this. The song they were dancing to ended and the next one began. This one was much too slow to continue at the pace they’d been going at, so he settled for a slow dance with Allelujah pressed against him. He couldn’t help but smile when the other man rested his head on his shoulder. He didn’t mind the intimacy since he knew it helped, but it made him even more aware of a pair of red eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. “Tieria, huh?” He murmured to himself; if Allelujah heard it he didn’t answer. Lockon knew he’d been hard on Tieria today, mostly because he wasn’t in the mood to deal with his pissy attitude. He’d been hiding it as to not upset the others (mostly Allelujah and Setsuna), but the near failure of their mission had shaken him just as badly. He was just better at hiding it.

 

He didn’t have long to dwell, as a pair of soft footsteps signaled Tieria’s arrival. Allelujah slipped out of Lockon’s arms to avoid being mauled; he was enjoying himself, but he didn’t doubt Tieria’s ability to kill someone at this point.

 

“If you’re just going to stand there let me in,” Tieria snapped at Allelujah as he took the taller man’s place. He turned away in time to miss Allelujah laughing silently.

 

“I guess a change of pace couldn’t hurt,” Lockon agreed, placing his left hand on Tieria’s hip and taking his right. “Do you know how to dance?”

 

“Of course I do. Who doesn’t?”

 

“You’d be surprised…” The brunet chuckled and whisked them away as a faster song began.

 

Suddenly alone, Allelujah sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before wandering back toward their sleeping bags. Standing before one, he crouched and held out his hand with a gentle smile. “Do you want to dance? I don’t bite.”

 

Setsuna frowned slightly from where he lay on his belly, arms folded beneath his chin. He’d been awake for a while now and had been watching his teammates dance without fully understanding what they were doing. “Why?”

 

Tilting his head, Allelujah let his hand drop as he contemplated an answer. “It’s how some people cope,” He replied simply. He’d thought it had only been him, but apparently Lockon seemed to find some modicum of comfort in it; Tieria, too, if his laughter was anything to go by. Wait.

 

“Is Tieria _laughing_?” Setsuna asked in clear disbelief. He’d never heard the purple-haired man so much as chuckle before, let alone laugh. What was going on?

 

“I… think so…” Allelujah said in equal disbelief, eyes widened slightly.

 

“I want to see.” Wiggling out of his sleeping bag, Setsuna stood and took the hand Allelujah had offered before and pulled the older man along with him. He wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

 

The other two forgotten, Lockon spun Tieria again, letting him go briefly before pulling him in. “A little bird told me that you might have a thing for me,” he said conversationally while carrying on the dance.

 

“A little bird?” Tieria repeated with a frown, thoughts jumping to Setsuna.

 

“Well, it was a rather tall bird with stunning heterochromatic eyes, but a bird all the same,” the brunet amended. He wasn’t worried about throwing Allelujah under the bus, especially if Tieria’s infatuation with him had been as obvious as the other claimed. Lockon didn’t doubt it. For a sniper, he could be a bit blind in certain situations.

 

Predictably, Tieria’s face went bright red and he looked away in embarrassment. Distracted, he tripped over the driftwood Allelujah had earlier dodged, which sent him stumbling into Lockon’s chest. Mortified, he looked up expecting to be laughed at, but instead he found a smile and understanding in those blue eyes he loved. Yes, loved. That was the word for it.

 

“You’re doing what Allelujah was doing earlier,” Lockon murmured. Releasing Tieria’s hand, he lifted the smaller Meister’s chin. “You’re thinking too much. Don’t think about it, feel it.” Closing his eyes, he leaned forward until his lips connected with Tieria’s. The entire world shrank until it was nothing but the other’s soft lips on his, the small, delicate hands on his chest, the body pressed against him. He licked Tieria’s lower lip, requesting entrance into the sweet mouth he didn’t know he wanted, needed until a few minutes ago.

 

Tieria eagerly obliged, lips parting with a small moan, fingers curling in the material of Lockon’s shirt as he kissed the brunet back, clinging to him like a lifeline. To think he could have missed this, that they could have died and he never would have known what love was like, what kissing Lockon was like… The thought brought tears to his eyes, only for them to be swiped away by a thumb.

 

“Don’t think,” Lockon whispered against his mouth before pulling him close again, their lips connecting in another desperate kiss.

 

Nearby, Setsuna watched passively as he leaned back against Allelujah’s chest, contemplating the intimacy the two bestowed on each other. He’d been aware of this for weeks, but what had them admitting it aloud all of a sudden? The battle, maybe? Had that day changed them all that much? He hadn’t been willing to admit it until a few hours previously, but he’d been terrified. The terror had passed, but the echo of it lingered, enough so that he didn’t mind having Allelujah’s arms wrapped around him. It was like having an older brother in a way. “Is that what love looks like?”

 

“I think so,” Allelujah replied softly, resting his head atop Setsuna’s as he pulled the boy closer against his chest.

 

“Okay.” They were quiet after that, the sound of the surf hitting the shore and the soft love song from the radio the background to Lockon and Tieria’s passion, half a world away from those who’d tried and failed to stop them.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“I learned at the Institute.”

 

“Eh?” Lockon turned his head to look at Allelujah. He pulled the now sleeping Tieria closer against his side as he cocked a curious brow at the other Meister.

 

“To dance. I learned at the Institute,” Allelujah repeated. He moved his arm so Setsuna could press closer to him, whether for warmth or the physical contact he didn’t know. “One of the nurses was kinder than the rest. One day while the cameras were down for maintenance and we weren’t being observed she taught us how to dance as a treat. It was fun. We never saw her again after that.”

 

Lockon nodded solemnly. Allelujah didn’t share anecdotes like this freely, so it wasn’t something to take lightly. “I’m glad you remembered. It’s not as much fun to dance when you have to teach someone.”

 

“Mmm…” Allelujah yawned and let his head fall against Lockon’s chest. “We should get some sleep.”

 

“Yeah,” Lockon agreed. He felt Allelujah’s breathing even out shortly after he went silent. He watched the stars for a bit before falling asleep himself. He’d never slept better.


End file.
